Colorado State headed to New Mexico Bowl to face Washington State

Rams return to site of most recent postseason appearance

Colorado State had reason to celebrate Sunday, accepting an invitation to the New Mexico Bowl. It will be the Rams' first bowl game since playing in Albuquerque in 2008. (Steve Stoner)

FORT COLLINS -- Even before Fresno State started to celebrate its win in the inaugural Mountain West championship game, the wheels were in motion to land teams in bowl games.

Six bowl-eligible squads for seven spots had conference coaches and athletic directors doing Willie Loman impersonations for the past week. When all those wheels stopped spinning and back-room deals were made, Colorado State (7-6) had landed a date in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 21 against Washington State (6-6).

"Obviously good news for us," CSU coach Jim McElwain said. "We're really excited about the opportunity to take this year's version of the Colorado State Rams -- a well-deserved version -- down to Albuquerque. We're so excited to be part of the New Mexico Bowl, and the opportunity to play a Pac-12 opponent is something that I know we're really looking forward to."

It will be Colorado State's first bowl game since beating Fresno State in Albuquerque in 2008, the 13th in program history. The 2008 game occurred just as the current group of Rams' seniors were entering the program, so it will be the first taste of the postseason for the entire team.

All of them will travel, and all of them spent a rather anxious week awaiting news. It took long enough for all involved Sunday, with final word being released out of Fort Collins around 2 p.m.

Fresno State accepted an invitation to the Las Vegas Bowl on the field after its championship win. It was around noon Sunday the switch between the two Texas bowls was announced, sending UNLV to the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Boise State then worked out a deal to go to the Hawaii Bowl to play a Pac-12 team, then the news of San Diego State to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and Utah State to the Poinsettia Bowl came quickly.

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That left San Jose State out of the bowl picture.

Weston Richburg said he saw both McElwain and director of operations Tom Ehlers on their phones the whole time, neither with a definitive expression of yea or nay.

"We were very anxious," Richburg said. "It feels really good now to have it official, but the days building up to that, we were really nervous about it. Everything was up in the air, so you look at all the projections, we were in some of these, not in some of these. It was all really up in the air, but we're really excited about it right now."

Richburg said after practice McElwain announced a team meeting, and the news would be good. It was in that meeting room the entire team was told of the invitation and the trip to play in a bowl.

For the seniors, it was more than just a reward for a turnaround season, but a major accomplishment for their class. The fact the game pits them against a team from a power conference makes it better.

"I'm really excited," linebacker Shaquil Barrett. "They're from a big conference, and I like the competition to play against big-name schools from big conferences to show that just because we're not just a Mountain West team, but a good team that can compete against anybody."

The teams are scheduled to arrive in Albuquerque on Dec. 18. McElwain said most of the game preparation will be handled in advance with only a few days to practice on site. Practices will be held at the University of New Mexico facilities.

The university has been allotted 10,000 tickets for the game and has started to sell them through the CSU ticket office online (http://col.st/1d6ozA9) or via phone at (970) 491-7267. They can also be purchased at the ticket windows at the McGraw Athletic Center.

Travel packages have been arranged through New Horizons Travel that include game tickets.

McElwain said the team will start preparing on Saturday, as most of the coaches went back to recruiting on Sunday. McElwain said the entire organization will have to be on task, especially factoring in finals next week. He joked he has a bit of experience with bowl games, and while many of those were on bigger stages, this one means more to him.

"I can honestly say this is probably the most satisfying, and I mean that sincerely, because I really do know this place hasn't been in a while, so to see the joy on people's faces, that really makes me happy," he said. "I'm really looking forward to these guys to have that experience and for the organization. It's really what it's all about."

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story